Colorado State apologized Saturday after fans were heard directing derogatory chants at BYU during the Rams’ game against the No. 11 Cougars at Canvas Stadium.
The chants came in the pregame, when Colorado State fans were heard yelling “F- the Mormons.” Before the game was over, the university sent a statement to media members in the press box addressing the incident.
“Colorado State University apologizes to BYU, its student-athletes and fans, and to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the chant directed at them during Saturday’s game.
“Mocking anyone’s faith has no place at CSU. It runs counter to our community’s values and to who we are.
BYU’s players, coaches, and fans deserved better. We are addressing this with our students.”
Saturday’s game was the first meeting between BYU and Colorado State in 16 years. The schools were once conference rivals in the old WAC and Mountain West Conference.
Colorado State is the latest school to issue an apology after similar chants toward BYU. Last year, Colorado apologized, and Cincinnati also drew the same kind of backlash from last football season.
After the game, BYU coach Kalani Sitake was asked what can be done to keep incidents like this from happening again.
“Listen, everyone’s human. I’m not going to dwell on that.
I know amazing people that are Colorado State fans and alumni, and I’m just going to focus on the beautiful people that are positive,” Sitake said. “You can’t judge the entire fan base on a few.
That’s what we’re going to be focused on. The environment here was awesome, and yeah, the fans are excited about their team.
So, other than that, I’m not too worried about it.”
BYU and Colorado State are set to meet again in three seasons, when the Rams travel to Provo in 2029 to finish the home-and-home series.
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